Instant messaging between individuals has become very popular. In general, instant messaging allows individuals to establish private chat sessions with each other through their respective personal computers. Typically, each individual creates a screen name and submits the screen name to an instant messaging system that stores the screen name in a database. Persons, who are interested in chatting with a particular individual, can add the screen name associated with that particular individual to their private list. Then, when any of the individuals listed on their private list are online, the instant messaging system sends an alert indicating that the individual is online and is available for chatting. A chat session may then be initiated through the Internet for chatting with the desired individual.
This instant messaging system works well for individuals using computing devices that maintain persistent connections to the Internet. These individuals may register their computing devices with the instant messaging system and inform the instant messaging system of their state (e.g., “online”). However, the instant messaging system does not work for mobile individuals using mobile devices. For one reason, mobile individuals do not typically maintain a persistent Internet connection on their mobile device for any significant duration. The reason for not maintaining a persistent Internet connection is typically driven by cost and battery-life considerations associated with their mobile device. For example, if a mobile device maintains a persistent Internet connection, its battery would most likely be expended after only a few hours. This would make the mobile device useless for other uses (e.g., phone conversations, emails, etc.).
Given the desirability of instant messaging, there is a need to extend instant messaging to mobile individuals using mobile devices.